By ROBERT GAVIN Staff writer

Published 6:18 pm, Friday, July 9, 2010

ALBANY -- A parolee with nearly 50 prior convictions is headed to state prison for 9 years for trying to sell dozens of bags of heroin in April.

Leslie Topping, 53, known as "Les," whose rap sheet spans 58 pages, first tried to sell 10 bags of heroin to a police informant on Park Avenue in Albany about 11:30 a.m. April 14, authorities said.

The next day, Topping tried to sell 32 more bags of heroin to an informant outside a Stewart's shop on Morton Avenue in Albany. After he was arrested, police found another 19 bags of heroin in his Delaware Terrace home, authorities said.

On Thursday, Topping pleaded guilty to both incidents before two judges.

Before Judge Thomas Breslin, he admitted to third-degree drug sale for the Park Avenue incident. In that case, he faces 9 years in prison with two years post-release supervision. Topping also pleaded guilty to attempted third-degree drug possession Thursday for April 15 incident,

He faces a concurrent seven-year sentence in that case from acting Supreme Court Justice Dan Lamont.

All told, Topping now has 49 convictions, including six felonies and 33 misdemeanors, prosecutors said.

Topping has served four prison stretches totaling more than 14 years. He had most recently served nearly seven years in prison at Fishkill Correctional Facility for selling heroin.

The recent case, which involved city Detective Scott Gavigan, was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Dan Lynch.